Those 3 years of French in high school come in handy every once and a while: hearing my dad say something he doesn’t want anyone to hear, dissecting some Cajun colloquialisms, and getting around in Paris. (damn, I still want to write Parish)

1st class is nice, but as I said im not a 1st class kind of guy, I like to be dirty, and actually right now I am very dirty. And I smell. So, it was fitting that my 1st class wi-fi eat till yer full train experience came to and end and I was put in my place. After navigating the Parish subway system like I was going from one end of NY to the other, but in French, I made it just in time to catch the train to Bordeaux.

Let me describe my seat: I am in between cars, one of the “knuckles” if you will of a snaking multi jointed snake-finger slithering through France. Its fucking loud in this knuckle, but what I trade for a being a 2nd class citizen I’ll take any day: my leg room is perfect, the plexi window on my side is fairly clean, and the country side is stunning. There will be many “note to self’s” on a cross country journey, but one big on that all photographers should take heed is to BRING YOUR OWN WINDEX.. Yea, why not clean the glass you’ll be shooting thru – makes sense doesn’t it? Here, try this: right when you’re about to get on, give the conductor a wink, like “I’ll get this one, but just this time!” spray your less than 8oz Code Orange Windex pump onto the glass you’ll be using, wipe, and repeat on the inside. Everyone’s happy.